IADLEST Continues To Enhance Police Training Quality Through National Certification Program

IADLEST Continues To Enhance Police Training Quality Through National Certification Program

Meridian, ID – The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) has revised its National Certification Program (NCP). The goal of the revisions is to encourage more law enforcement training providers to participate in the NCP and thus, provide quality assurance for their police training.  Officers and the citizens they serve can be assured that NCP-certified training has been thoroughly reviewed and meets the highest standards for law enforcement training nationwide.

The NCP was created in 2015. It established rigorous standards for assessing law enforcement training to assure the training utilizes current content and best practices for providing high-quality training relating to professionalism and skill sets for criminal justice professionals. The standards, designed to meet or exceed any individual state certification requirements, ensure that training receiving the NCP Seal will be accepted by organizations around the nation. NCP-certified courses are recognized throughout the U.S. and are designed to count towards officers’ mandatory in-service training requirements. Currently, the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) organizations in 35 states automatically accept NCP-certified courses to fulfill recertification requirements.

The most recent updates to the NCP program reduce costs and add flexibility in the requirements for training providers. For instance, uploading completion data is no longer required for in-person courses. For training providers who take advantage of managing registrations and diploma delivery using tools in FirstForward, the associated fees will be waived for any NCP-certified course. Additionally, while training providers are still required to list their NCP-certified online training in the national training catalog at FirstForward.com, they are no longer required to host and deliver them there.

“By making these changes, we hope to expand the number of training providers who participate in the NCP process and thereby achieve the distinction of having the quality of their training certified,” IADLEST Executive Director Mike Becar said. “Doing so ensures that our law enforcement professionals are receiving the best possible training for the job, in a variety of topic areas critical to enhance their safety and effectiveness. The NCP seal is a visible affirmation to any agency or officer that the training program has met rigorous standards for content and delivery.”

IADLEST has fundamentally improved access to quality training by compiling certified courses into a national training catalog at FirstForward.com. Offering certified courses through a single online catalog benefits law enforcement agencies and professionals by saving them time in finding the training they need, ensuring they are consistently getting high quality training, and simplifying the purchasing process.

Before IADLEST launched the NCP, in partnership with POST organizations around the nation, law enforcement agencies lacked established nationwide standards for assessing the quality of police training.  Instead, each state had its own process for awarding in-service or continuing education credit for officers completing vendor-provided training. With the addition of uniform national standards for law enforcement training, departments can ensure they are receiving high quality, legally defensible, up-to-date continuing education.

“Chiefs, Sheriffs, Agency Training Coordinators and Officers can visit the FirstForward marketplace and see all the different training opportunities available to meet their immediate professional needs,” NCP Program Director Peggy Schaefer said. “With the new updates and fee waivers, we aim to make these high-quality courses available to more officers than ever.”

Further Information about the NCP may be found at www.iadlest-ncp.org or by calling 208-288-5491.

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About IADLEST

The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) is an international organization of training managers and executives dedicated to the improvement of public safety personnel. IADLEST serves as the national forum of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) agencies, boards, and commissions as well as statewide training academies throughout the United States. For additional information, please visit www.iadlest.org.

About NCP

The NCP, launched in June 2015 with the support of Envisage Technologies, is a revolutionary program designed to enhance standardization and quality within police training. The NCP sets minimum standards for vendors that provide continuing education to the law enforcement community and ensures training content meets those quality standards. NCP standards are designed to meet or exceed all individual state certification requirements, ensuring that NCP-certified training will be accepted by all participating POST organizations in the United States. By compiling certified courses into a national training catalog, the NCP fundamentally improves access to quality training, reduces costs, and improves training efficiency. More information about NCP is available at https://iadlest-ncp.org/ncp-benefits/.

About FirstForward

FirstForward provides critical news and facilitates the lifelong learning that public safety personnel need to ensure their careers reach retirement. FirstForward maintains the complete training history of courses completed on the site and provides a forum for industry professionals and experts to discuss best practices and the latest public safety techniques, tactics and resources necessary to safely execute their duties. Law enforcement officers, first responders, and other public safety personnel may sign up for access at www.firstforward.com.  Providing more than 700 training courses (almost 200 of which are free), FirstForward offers an online training marketplace and the entire catalog of Nationally Certified Program and Fire Training Certification Program courses.

Contact: Mike Becar
[email protected]
https://www.iadlest.org